With obvious public outcries against forced abortions in China and forced sterilizations of mentally handicapped individuals in Nazi Germany, one might assume the United States knows better.

However, today, in Nevada, the life of an 11-week-old unborn baby and the future of his or her 32-year-old mother hang in the balance as a judge considers whether or not to order the woman to undergo an abortion and sterilization against her will.

Elisa Bauer, who suffers from severe mental and physical disabilities attributed to fetal alcohol syndrome, is currently in the final weeks of her first trimester. The second-oldest of six children adopted by William and Amy Bauer in 1992, Elisa has epilepsy and is said to have the mental and social capacity of a 6-year-old.

The circumstances surrounding her pregnancy are unknown. Her family suspects she may have been raped, but it’s possible the sexual encounter that led to her pregnancy was consensual. On several occasions, Elisa has left her group home for hours or days at a time to engage in sexual activity with men at a local truck stop.
Since turning 18 in 1998, she has continued to remain under court-approved guardianship of her parents, who were given legal authority to make final decisions regarding her health and welfare, even as she lived in a group home.

While Elisa has maintained that she wants to carry out her pregnancy, she knows she will be unable to care for the child. The Bauers support her decision, are following all the prenatal protocol for high-risk pregnancies, and have already lined up six qualified couples who are eager to adopt Elisa’s child once he or she is born.

However, when Washoe County Social Services became aware of Elisa’s pregnancy, the department issued an informal report requesting that the Court set a status hearing to address the potential health effects Elisa’s pregnancy could have on her and her unborn child, and possibly override the mutual decision made between Elisa and her parents to have her baby.

Jason Guinsasso, the attorney for the Bauers, says that the court has no jurisdiction to intervene in any health-related decisions regarding Elisa — pregnancy included — because Elisa’s parents are the legal guardians. He adds that Washoe County Social Services Department must submit a formal petition based on substantial grounds to usurp guardianship before the County Court can get involved.

“There are no statutes that give this Court or Washoe County the authority to compel Elisa to have an abortion. Such decisions are left to the sound discretion of the duly appointed guardian(s)… To date, Washoe County has utterly failed to provide clear and convincing evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Bauer’s decision to support Elisa’s efforts to carry her child to term is unlawful or that they are not acting in a manner consistent with the best interests of Elisa’s health and welfare.”
he Bauers have also consulted a number of doctors in an effort to provide the best care to their daughter and obtain expert opinion that debunks the notion that abortion and sterilization are the appropriate and only measures recommended in Elisa’s case.

Dr. Michael Czerkes, an OB/GYN at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine reviewed all the medical facts and concluded that abortion was neither necessary nor prudent.

This is terrible. This woman should not be forced to have an abortion. I am pro-choice and this woman has made her choice. And she has her parents helping her through it to make sure she gets all the necessary medical care. If this woman's birth mother wasn't forced to have an abortion, it shouldn't be allowed to force her to have one.

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This is terrible. This woman should not be forced to have an abortion. I am pro-choice and this woman has made her choice. And she has her parents helping her through it to make sure she gets all the necessary medical care. If this woman's birth mother wasn't forced to have an abortion, it shouldn't be allowed to force her to have one.

I fully support the sterilization of this woman, and think they should sterilize anyone who is proven mentally deficient.

I'm not sure how I feel about having the woman sterilized. I don't think she should be forced to have an abortion though.

ETA: Wouldn't having her get an IUD or another birth control method be better? I mean, sterilization might prevent her from getting pregnant, but it doesn't help the fact that she may be taken advantage of sexually. Sterilizing her would basically just let whomever wants to abuse her know that he likely won't get caught.

not sure what to think of this.. a court ordered abortion.. but then again, i could put myself in the shoes of the grown child.. being born only to find out you were an orphan from the day you were born. you mother is a retard(yea i said it), and your father is a rapist.. the selfish family didnt want the courts to abort me so they sent me off to another family. im gonna be emo now. i wanna kill cats. killing cats isnt enough, i hate humans. i'll kill everybody. fuck my life....

oh.. did i get carried away there?

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not sure what to think of this.. a court ordered abortion.. but then again, i could put myself in the shoes of the grown child.. being born only to find out you were an orphan from the day you were born. you mother is a retard(yea i said it), and your father is a rapist.. the selfish family didnt want the courts to abort me so they sent me off to another family. im gonna be emo now. i wanna kill cats. killing cats isnt enough, i hate humans. i'll kill everybody. fuck my life....

oh.. did i get carried away there?

Ok, I see where you are coming from. But those are assumptions. Not every adopted child has a horrible life. I don't know the odds, but the article said the grandparents had helped the mom pick 5 couples to choose from. So it's not as if the child would spend any time in foster care. The child would go straight to a (presumably) loving home. What about sterilization? Does this woman not have the right to decide that for herself? As I said, if sterilization is to keep her from getting pregnant, what is to keep her from being taken advantage of?